Vikes to play amongst Canada’s elite at National University Sevens Championship

(ISN) – VICTORIA – Playing against a mixture of the country’s top rugby teams, the University of Victoria Vikes women’s rugby program will have two teams competing at the National University Seven’s Championship in Langford, B.C. this weekend, Mar. 6-7.

Hosted by Rugby Canada annually, the tournament features university and college teams from across Canada showcasing their talent and allows for the opportunity for players to have a chance to be recognized by the national team program.

“This tournament provides a great opportunity for the majority of our athletes to participate at an elite level and gain experience,” said women’s rugby interim head coach Brittany Waters.

The Vikes women enter the tournament following their win of the Las Vegas Seven’s Collegiate Division title this past February. The Vikes won all of their six games in the two-day tournament, blowing past American competitors as well as Canadian schools, University of Alberta and Guelph.

“We will be bringing the momentum from that win to this tournament and looking for another chance to work hard and execute our game plan,” added Waters.

The first Vikes team will feature 2014 CIS All-Canadian Laura Crowe-Hutchon, Canada West All-StarKara Galbraith and national team members Jess Neilson and Tiffany Picketts. Amongst the second set of Vikes players are national team member Jamie Beck, fourth-year lock Caitlin Harvey, and Abbotsford’s Gurpreet Dhaliwal and Lauren Kerr.

“We have a lot of experience and talent on both teams and selection was very competitive. I expect that both teams will make the top eight for day two,” said Waters.

Last year, the top Vikes women’s team earned a 3-0 record in the second division pool and beat UBC Okanagan 12-7 to qualify for the semi-finals. They were downed by Lethbridge 5-7 in the semifinals but managed to finish in third place after successfully defeating Alberta 15-0. The Guelph Gryphons captured the title for their second-consecutive year.

The tournament starts at 9 a.m. on Mar. 6 with games being played at Goudy Field in Westhills Stadium in Langford, B.C. All games will be streamed live at rugbycanada.tv. Tickets will be available at the stadium.